


Shark Attack

by trevor_the_carrot



Category: Original - Fandom
Genre: Depressing, Sad, Tears, father - Freeform, original - Freeform, shark attack, snippet from a story I wrote, soft boy gets dead, son - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 17:58:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17208194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trevor_the_carrot/pseuds/trevor_the_carrot
Summary: Father and son go out on a boat fishing, their usual commute. It turns out to not go as planned.{Snippet from a story I wrote a long time ago.}





	Shark Attack

The boat rocked against the miniature waves, and Gilbert’s son, Eddie, giggled at the splash of water on his face. It wasn’t a rare sight to see— Eddie was the most giddy and cheerful person that one could meet. He could bring a smile to someone who had lost so much because he was the sweetest thing.

They were significantly far from mainland, small shapes unable to be identified. The waves were pretty faint, but it wasn’t enough to knock over the wooden boat. A light sprinkle began to drizzle on the two, dampening their hair and Eddie opening his mouth to let the rain in. He saw mother waving at him from the shore, the smile on her face unclear to both of them on the boat. Eddie waved back with a grin, raising his fishing rod and pointing at it with enthusiasm.

Eddie pulled out a long worm from a wooden box filled with dirt. His son was never one to kill the worm, therefore Gilbert would. He took it from his son and ripped it in half, putting each half on each fishing rod.

“Hey, Dad?” Eddie asked with furrowed eyebrows, his raven hair sticking to his forehead from the rain. “You reckon I’m gonna catch anything?”

Gilbert laughed. “Hey, with you and your—“ he ruffled his son’s hair—“smart brain, I’m sure you could catch anything.”

Eddie laughed and readied his rod, casting it out a few good yards. He impatiently waited for a bite, tapping his foot on the tough wood. He frowned, the next few minutes not getting a thing. 

It was a calm day, and Gilbert’s job of creating new houses gave him a day off because of his aching back— at the age of 34. It was a grievance working every day, but it was worth it for his son to have a nice home. And his wife would not let him lounge around all day. She was busy with a job, also, and she had to bring Eddie with her everyday.

A fish tugged at the fishing rod, the wooden pole bending in the middle. Eddie instincts kicked in and he reeled in the possible fish. It became lighter in a split second and Eddie frowned, the hook coming up empty— worm and all. Gilbert bent down and put his arm around Eddie, putting his head on his shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll catch something.”

Eddie smirked. “That fish is probably stupid enough to go on the same hook, so let’s do this again.”

Before he asked for another worm, he gazed up at his dad and grinned. “I can’t wait to see you grow old. To see how many more houses you’ll build. How many people you’ll give a home to. For you to see me grow up and make you proud— and I will. I swear, sir, I swear.”

Gilbert smiled up to his eyes, chuckling while patting his son’s back. The waves started to pick up, the bucket of water in the boat toppling over and washing on the floor of the boat. Gilbert cursed under his breath and knocked into his son unintentionally. He steadied Eddie but the rod fell out of his son’s hand fell into the freezing water.

“It’s okay, sir,” Eddie said with a joke and looked between the gradually sinking fishing rod and his father, “I’ll get it.”

“No, no, no. Don’t!”

Eddie bent over the boat, reaching into the water with his left hand. He swished his hand around a bit, but couldn’t find it so he went farther into the dark water. Gilbert got up and steadied himself to grab his son and pull him back, but the boat rocked, sending his son into the water and him into the bottom of the small boat. 

“Shit… Eddie!”

He readied himself to dive into the water, but Eddie appeared above and slashed his arms around for the feeling of the boat. He wiped his eyes quickly and made eye contact with his dad. He extended his arm out and Gilbert leaned over and grabbed it, sighing in relief as he began to pull his only son out of the water.

Before he could pull him out, a shark snatched Eddie by the shoulder and pulled him under water. Gilbert cried out in anguish, sending himself over the boat into the frigid water. The water stung his skin, causing him to grimace in pain. Even so, he swam in the direction of the shark, unable to know where his son really was. 

He opened his eyes and screamed, the salt water tearing his eyes apart. He came up for air, spitting out the repulsive water. The waves pushed him farther away from the boat, but his main intention was to find his son. He controlled his breathing and took a deep breath.

A body appeared from the water before he sent himself under again and tears poured out of his eyes as he saw the absent place where his arm should be, blood and bones displayed where his left shoulder and arm was supposed to be. It was a sight Gilbert never thought he’d see and he wanted it all to end. Gilbert quickly swam over to his son, putting his arm around his waist on the right side. He had no clue where the shark was, but he had to try to get his son to safety and onto mainland. 

His hands began to freeze, his fingers becoming numb to the touch. He continued on towards the boat, though, the waves setting him back every few seconds. Gilbert glanced over at his son and let out a whimper, swimming faster with only one free arm.

His hand grasped the side of the boat, pulling himself up far enough to sit on the side of the boat to place Eddie in the boat first. His feet dangled over the side as he placed his son down on the floor of the boat. The water under him divided as a shark took a hold of his leg, pulling him halfway under water. 

Eddie watched as his dad held onto the boat with all of his strength, attempting to kick the shark away with his other leg. The shark’s teeth went through his skin, causing Gilbert to bite his lip from the pain. He kicked and kicked, but the shark only pulled onto his leg, but didn’t pull him apart. It felt like he was teasing him. 

“You fucking bastard!” Gilbert yelled as he kicked once more, this time on the shark’s eye. It let go for a split second and he pulled himself into the boat, begging for breath as his heart beat fast. He watched his boy bleed out and he quickly sat up, forgetting about his own leg.

“It’s okay, Eddie, it’ll all be okay.” He grabbed a blanket from inside a chest, shutting it quickly and turning towards Eddie. He lifted him up and wrapped the blanket around him, tying it across his chest. The bleeding didn’t stop, but it helped quite a bit.

Eddie cried out in pain, heaving in breath after breath. His son was in immense pain and they were about a couple miles away from the shore. Gilbert looked around the boat for something to help— he didn’t even know what he was looking for. He glanced down at his son and saw tears running down his face, but one thing scared him the most.

Eddie was smiling.

“I-I love you, Daddy,” he mumbled, “Please don’t let me go. I don’t want to duh-die, Daddy.” His face scrunched up and his smile faded, reaching towards his dad with one arm. Gilbert wrapped his arms around his son, sobbing into his shoulder. 

“It’s okay, son, I’m right here. Just breathe, Eddie, breathe. Like this.”

Gilbert sat up and breathed slowly with Eddie, his son’s eyes slowly closing. His chest was throbbing with pain as he watched his son slowly close his eyes in distress. “No, Eddie, keep your eyes open. Eyes open.”

Eddie glanced up at his dad, sniffling and crying out in pain. He looked over at his absent arm and shivered before screaming. Gilbert grabbed Eddie’s face and made him face towards him. His eyes were open wide and his mouth was formed in a terrible scream.

“It’s okay, we’re going home right now,” he said to his son as calmly as he could. He grabbed both oars and started rowing the boat back towards the dock, unaware of his wife’s worried eyes overlooking the whole incident. His biceps burned in stress, but he continued to row faster and faster until his arms locked up in pain.

He lugged the oars in the boat and rubbed his arms, tears rolling down his cheeks. He took in a deep breath and waited a second before picking up the oars and starting to row again.

“See, Eddie?” The oars fought against the water, pushing the boat towards the dock. “We’re so close. It’s like we’re already there. Just a few more seconds—“

He glanced back and saw Eddie with closed eyes and he dropped the oars in the water. He fell towards his son in misery, pressing two fingers against his wrist. His body was void of a pulse and Gilbert froze, not a breath escaping his lips. 

“Eddie? Stop juh-joking with me. It’s-it’s not funny. We’re right here at the dock—“ the boat crashed against the dock, his body jolting in fright. He didn’t connect the rope to the dock, he just lay in front of his son’s mangled body in shock—“We’re fine, right? You’re fine… I’ll make you your favorite kind of tea when we get inside the house. You can sit down and read your favorite book.”

Gilbert cried out in grief, punching his fist into the side of the boat. He pushed his face into his son’s chest, gripping his shirt. His chest heaved up and down as he sobbed into the already soaked shirt. The boat was pulled towards the dock, but he didn’t look up. The rope was pulled out of the boat and tied to the dock, but but he didn’t look up. His wife climbed into the boat in a rush, but he didn’t look up.

Eddie was gone, and it was his fault.


End file.
